GWYNN FEELS ‘GOOD’ AFTER SURGERY

Malignant tumor is removed from cheek

Tony Gwynn emerged Wednesday from 14 hours of surgery to remove a malignant tumor from inside his right cheek saying he feels “good,” and UC San Diego doctors said his surgery “went extremely well.”

He underwent a previous cancer surgery in the same spot in August 2010.

“I’m already ahead of schedule,” Gwynn told
ESPN.com. “Last time, I couldn’t lift my eye or close my mouth. This time, my eye can close, my mouth can close. I feel good. I’m talking better than I did last time.”

San Diego State assistant baseball coaches visited their head coach Wednesday morning at UC San Diego’s Thornton Hospital.

Wednesday afternoon, seniors Jomel Torres and Chris Wilson brought a video the players made as well as cards for their coach. They talked about hitting and the approaching season, which begins Friday night when the Aztecs host Washington.

The hope is that Gwynn can return to work in about a month. Alicia Gwynn said Tuesday her husband would not need additional chemotherapy or radiation.

“I don’t know when I’ll be back,” Tony Gwynn told
ESPN.com. “I’ll worry about me first. When I get healthy, I’ll get back out there. I’m grateful for the position I’m in. There’s no reason to rush now.”

The Gwynns could not be reached for additional comment Wednesday.

UC San Diego released a statement saying a team of doctors performed a “complicated surgical procedure” on the Hall of Famer.

“While everything went extremely well and Mr. Gwynn is in good spirits, it is too early to forecast how successful the outcome will be,” the statement said. “Initial indications are that the cancer has not spread. This type of cancer is very rare, accounting for less than one percent of all head and neck cancers. It could take up to 18 months for Mr. Gwynn to regain movement and function on the right side of his face.”

The statement said the process was done in three main stages by its doctors, led by surgeons Robert Weisman, MD, director of the Head and Neck Oncology, and Jeffrey Harris, MD, chief of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery:

“First, Dr. Weisman removed the cancerous growth and scar tissue from previous therapies that had encased the nerve that controls facial movement on the right side of Mr. Gwynn’s face. The tumor mass was so intertwined with the nerve, it had to be removed as well, so that potential spread of the tumor would be avoided.

“The second stage of Mr. Gwynn’s surgery involved Dr. Harris’ grafting a nerve from Gwynn’s neck to the remaining main branches of the facial nerve both in the face and in the temporal bone of the skull behind his ear. Over time, as the branches of that nerve grow into Mr. Gwynn’s face, the facial movement will begin to return.

“The third stage of the procedure was to then reconstruct the defect left after the tumor removal.”

Alicia Gwynn said her husband came out of surgery at 1 a.m. Wednesday, and that doctors told her they had entirely removed the cancerous growth from his parotid gland.

“All is well — it doesn’t seem like last time,” Alicia Gwynn told
ESPN.com. “It turned out great. He looks good, he looks normal. His eyelids are a little swollen, but they got all the cancer. They say they got it all. His face looks good. They did an amazing job.”

As of Wednesday morning, there were no signs of complications, and all biopsies performed on his salivary gland and facial area during the operation came back negative, Alicia Gwynn said.

“He’s a little drowsy now, and we’ll be talking to the doctors again, but, yes, the biopsies were clear,” she said. “The doctors and staff were amazing. They had nurses contacting me every hour while he was in surgery. And now Tony’s talking already.”

Said Tony Gwynn: “I had to do what I had to do. It is what it is. It’s done. I mean, I guess it’s never over. I thought it was over the last time. But Alicia says it’s over this time. She says quit saying it’s not over. So that’s what I’m going to say — they got it. The doctors got it. They got it all this time.”